The present invention refers to a support arrangement for lighting devices adapted to illuminate a license plate of motor-vehicles, in particular motor-cars.
As is generally known, the license plate provided in the rear of motor-cars is capable of being illuminated by means of incandescent lamps, which are mounted on at least a support member attached to the body of the vehicle.
In particular, generally known in the art is the practice based on the use of an elongated support body which is attached to the rear trunk of the vehicle, and which, further to the lamps for the illumination of the license plate, may also support a manually actuatable electro-mechanical device for opening the trunk. In other words, a manually actuatable lever is provided there to operate a switch, which in turn is adapted to energize an electric motor, or the like, to release the lock fastening the trunk.
In the above cited prior-art solutions, the lamps need to be protected by means of glass coverings, or the like, mounted on the support member. Furthermore, the electrical connections of the same lamps and the above mentioned trunk unlocking device are implemented with the use of wirings, or metal strips, as this is described for instance in EP-A-0 976 617.
In any case, the assembly of the whole support member turns out to be undesirably laborious, i.e., demanding, and expensive on an industrial scale.
Furthermore, the support member is scarcely reliable due to moisture which quite easily penetrates thereinto in areas corresponding to the glass coverings used as a protection. The moisture causes the electrical contacts to undergo corrosion/oxidation problems and this obviously gives rise to conditions of malfunction. This phenomenon is even made worse by the combination of such moisture with the heat generated by the incandescent lamps.
Apart from the above described drawbacks, it should be noticed that the traditional support members for lamps used to illuminate the number plate of motor-vehicles are made up by a plurality of relatively bulky component parts that undesirably affect the aesthetics of the entire support member and, as a consequence, of the associated vehicle.
Furthermore, the bulkiness of the support member sets substantial limitations on the structural and application-related versatility thereof.